Extraction counter



April 7, 1964 E. L. MIDGLEY 3,127,803

EXTRACTION COUNTER Filed Feb. 25, 1962 V s Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

FIG.2 E

INVENTOR.

ERIC L. MIDGLEY W7Q7/4 W ATTORNEYS April 7, 1964 E. MIDGLEY 3,127,803

EXTRACTION COUNTER Filed Feb. 23, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ERIC 1.. MIDGLEY ORNEY April 7, 1964 E. L. MIDGLEY 3,127,803

EXTRACTION COUNTER Filed Feb. 25, 1962 s Sheets-Sheet s REAR HEAD 38 CYLINDER FRONT HEAD Fl G. 4 96 44 CYLINDER 96 JUNCTION BOX INVENTOR.

ERIC L MIDGLEY April 7, 1964 E. L. MIDGLEY EXTRACTION COUNTER Fild Feb. 23, 1962 5 Sheets$heet 4 REAR HEAD CYLINDER 96 FRONT HEAD CYLINDER 96 REAR HEADS CYLINDERS 80 & 88

FRONT HEADS CYLINDERS so a 88 FIG. 6

VENT- INVENTOR.

ERIC L. MIDGLEY Y ATTORNEYS April 7, 1964 E. L. MIDGLEY 3,127,803

EXTRACTION COUNTER Filed Feb. 23, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 8

INVENTOR.

ERIC 1 MIDGLEY ATTORNEYQ United States Patent Office 3,127,303 EXTRACTTUN (IGUNTER Eric L. Midgiey, Danvers, Masn, assignor to Sweetheart Plastics, Inc, a corporation of Maryland Filed Feb. 23, 1962, Ser. No. 175,112 9 Claims. (Cl. 83-81) This invention relates to counting devices and more particularly comprises a new and improved counter and extractor especially suitable for use on forming and/ or separating machines for grouping in prescribed numbers articles formed by the machines.

It is not uncommon for those engaged in manufacturing and selling inexpensive articles packaged in bulk to purposely over stock each package in order to avoid any likelihood of short supplying customers. For example, in the bulk packaging of throwaway cups, dishes and the like, manufacturers often package as many as 105 units in a carton represented to contain 100 units to avoid any possibility of short changing the purchaser. Such practices obviously raise the manufacturing costs, and these costs may or may not be passed on to the purchaser in the price charged for the goods.

One important object of this invention is to provide a dependable and accurate counting device which may be used on many different kinds of production equipment to accurately group selected numbers of articles produced thereby.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a counting and extracting device which may simultaneously monitor all of the production lines of machines which produce a plurality of articles at once.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a counting and extracting assembly which may be incorporated as an attachment onto existing production equipment.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a counting and extracting assembly which physically separates counted articles and moves them to a station where they may be packaged either automatically or by hand.

To accomplish these and other objects, my invention includes among its many features a counter for counting the articles as they are produced by the production machine. Conveying means are included in the assembly which physically engages the last of a predetermined number of articles formed by the machine as sensed by the counter, and moves the articles away from the machine and other articles thereafter produced by it. A drive mechanism is connected to the conveying means and is activated in response to the conveying means reaching a predetermined position for causing the conveying means to disengage the transported articles and return to its initial position.

These and other objects and features of this invention along with its incident advantages will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a part of a production trim press machine upon which is mounted a counting and extracting assembly constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side view of a part of the assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevation view of a portion of the assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are front and side views respectively of the pneumatic control unit for the assembly shown in FIGS.1-3;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the control unit shown in FIGS. 4-5; and

FIGS. 7-9 are fragmentary side views illustrating the sequence of operations of the counting and extracting assembly.

In the drawing, a trim press 10 which separates the articies to be counted and packaged is shown in part to have a ram 112 which moves back and forth along the horizontal path toward and away from a fixed bed 14. Disposed on the front of the bed 14 (on the right in FIG. 1) is the extracting and counting assembly 16. The rearward end of the assembly 16 is shown to extend through the opening 3.8 in the punch backing plate 20 carried on the bed 14. In FIG. 1 a punch 22 is suggested as being carried by a backing plate 24 on the ram and is shown disposed within the opening in the die 26 carried on the backing plate 24 of the bed.

The trim press in illustrated and more particularly the punch and die assembly carried by it is designed to sever simultaneously during each cycle of the machine three articles which are ejected one beside the other from the machine. It is to be understood, however, that the machine may simultaneously sever any number of articles and the counting and extracting assembly of this invention may be readily modified to accommodate that number. In the description which follows the machine is defined in terms of its use in severing disposable plas ic dishes previously formed in sheet stock, and the counting-extracting assembly is similarly defined in terms of such goods.

The counting and extracting assembly to is provided with a fixed rack 36 for each of the three production lines of the machine it? and each rack includes a pair of space lower rails 32; and an upper rail 34 which cooperate to support the dishes as they are discharged from the trim press. This is shown in FIGS. 7-9. The space lower rails 32 support or engage the rims of a dish D about degrees apart spaced equally from the lowest point of the dish rims, and the rail 34 engages the rims of the dishes at the uppermost point when they are disposed with their axes horizontal. When the trim press It) severs the dishes from the sheet, they are moved forward so as to lie within and be supported by the rails. The rails 32 and 34 are each provided with stops 36 which engage the dish rims to prevent them from moving rearwardly (to the left in FIGS. 1 and 7-9) after they are moved forwardly on the railsv This function of the stops will be more fully understood from the description which follows.

While the rack 30 is fixed with respect to the press bed 20 which in turn is stationary, an extracting or conveying mechanism 40 which forms part of the assembly is movable with respect thereto. The extracting mechanism 49 includes a frame 42 slidably supported by its depending bushing 44 on a shaft 46 that extends in a forward direction from the main frame 45 of the trim press lit. The frame 42 surrounds the region where the dishes trimmed by the machine are ejected and thus surrounds each of the three parallel racks 39 having lower rails 32 and upper rails 34. In FIG. 3, the frame 42 is shown to surround the area occupied by the three dies 26. While but one set of bushings 44 and a single shaft 46 is shown it is to be understood that as many as are required may be used to support the mechanism.

The frame ill supports three rearwardly extending fingers 50, 52 and 54- for each of the three lines (punch and die assemblies), which extract the dishes trimmed by the machine 10 and deposited on racks 30. In FIG. 3, three sets of fingers are shown. The fingers 5d and 52 are each displaced 45 from the rail 34 of each rack while the finger 54 is disposed between the rails 32. The fingers are provided with gripping flanges as which extend radially inwardly toward the center of the die 26 to a depth to engage the dish rims when in the position shown in FIG. 1 and Patented Apr. 7, 1964 transport the dish engaged and those disposed in front of it, in a forward direction. The fingers may be moved from the extracting position shown in FIG. 1 to an inactive or inoperative position in which they will not engage dishes disposed between them, by rotation of the castings 60 which carry the fingers. In FIG. 7 the fingers are shown in an inoperative position while in FIGS. 8 and 9 the fingers are shown to engage the dishes D within them and thus are in an operative or extracting position.

The castings 64) supporting the upper fingers 50 and 52 are rotated above the axes of the fingers by the linkage system 62 mounted on the upper portion 64 of the face 66 of the frame 42. When the linkage system 62 moves to the left as shown in FIG. '3 the castings 60 rotate counter clockwise and place the fingers '50 and 52 in their extracting position. Alternately, when the linkage system 62 is moved to the right, the castings 60* move clockwise about the axes of the fingers and rotate their gripping ends 56 to a position wherein they lie outside the rims of the cutting edges of the dies 26 and the rims of the dishes D disposed on the rack 30. A similar arrangement is shown for moving the fingers 54 disposed adjacent the bottom of the dies. A linkage system 70 is shown to be connected to the castings -60 bearing the lower fingers 54 and when the linkage system 70 is moved to the right the fingers are disposed in the position shown in FIG. 3, namely, in their extracting position. When the system 70 moves to the left the fingers 4 pivot so they lie radially beyond the rims of the dishes and cutting edges of the dies.

A bell crank 72 is pivotally mounted on a post 74 in turn carried on the left side of frame 42 and actuatesthe linkage system 62. One arm 76 of the crank 72 is connected to piston 78 of air cylinder 80 while the other arm 82 of the crank is connected by means of a pin and slot connection to the end of the link 62. A similar system is shown on the right side of the frame 42 as viewed in FIG. 3 wherein a bell crank 84 is connected to the piston 86 of an air cylinder 88 and to the link 70. Operation of the air cylinders 80 and 88 will be described below in connection with the control units shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The frame 42 is moved by the frame actuator 90 connected to the forwardly extending arm 92 attached directly to the frame. The frame actuator 90 includes a piston 94 extending forwardly from cylinder 96 and carries a collar 98 coupled to a vertical post 101). When the cylinder is actuated to move the piston 94 to the right as viewed in FIG. 1 the post 100 pulls the arm 92 with it to in turn move the frame 42 to the right. When the frame is moved, the fingers and their direct actuators including the linkage systems move with it. The bushing 44 and shaft 46 guide the movement of the frame 42 as well as its associated parts and support them on the frame of the trim press.

The control unit shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 includes several solenoid valves which control the flow of air to the several cylinders referred to above. The control unit includes an air inlet 110 adapted to be connected to any compressed air source. Inlet 111) is connected to a Tfitting 112 which in turn is connected to solenoid controlled pneumatic valve 114 and air control valve 116 which is also solenoid operated. Pneumatic valve 114 controls the flow of air to the cylinders 80 and 88 which operate the linkage systems of the fingers 50, 52 and 54, while air control valve 116 controls the flow of air to additional valves 118 and 120 which in turn govern air flow to the frame operating cylinder 96.

The air valve 114 is provided with a hose fitting 122 con-nected to hose 124. The hose 124 is connected at its other end to one side of cylinder 80 as well as to one side of cylinder 88." A second hose fitting 126 carries a hose 128 connected at its other end to the other sides of the cylinders 80 and 88. Thus, the valve 114 is capable of directing air to either side of the pistons disposed in the cylinders 80 and 88 to actuate the linkage systems 62 and 70 in either direction. The valve 114 is also provided with frame 42.

a pair of exhaust ports 130 to enable the air on each side of the pistons to vent when the pistons move under the influence of air pressure on their other sides. In FIG. 4, four leads 132 are shown which suggest means for energizing the solenoid of valve 114 to direct air through the valve 114 into either hose 124 or 128.

The air valves 118 and 120 receive their air supply from the outlet of air control valve 116' and through T-fitting 134. The two valves 118 and 120 are three-way valves, and the valve 118 opens when its solenoid is energized while valve 120 opens when its solenoid is de-energized. Valve 118 is connected by means of its fitting *136 and hose '138 to the front head 140 of frame operating cylinder 96, while solenoid valve 120 is connected by means of its fitting 142 and hose 144 to the rear head of the cylinder 96. Thus, when valve 120 opens, air is directed to the frame operating cylinder 96 to move the frame 42 forward (to the right as viewed in FIG. 1), and when valve 118 opens, air is directed to the front of the cylinder 96 to return the frame 42 to the position shown in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 6 the several solenoids and the switches which control them are illustrated. The solenoid operated control valve .114 is shown to include a pair of coils and 152 each independently energized by switches 154 and 156, respectively. The switch 154 is part of a counter shown in FIG. 1 to be disposed in the path of travel of ram 12 of the trim press 10. The counter 160 which may be of any variety records each stroke of the ram and thereby records the number of dishes trimmed by the machine. When the counter senses a preselected number of strokes of the ram, its switch represented by switch 154 in FIG. 6 is closed and energizes coil 1'50. Coil 150 directs air from the valve 114 through fitting 122 and hose 124 to the cylinders 80 and 88 which in turn move the fingers 50 52 and 54 to their extracting position shown in FIG. 3. The switch 156 which controls coil 152 serves to direct air from the valve 114 to the other side of cylinders 80 and 88 to move the fingers to their inactive position. The switch .156 is shown in FIG. 2 to be connected to a portion of the rack 30 and its blade 158 is disposed in the path of travel of the lower end of frame 42. When the frame reaches its extreme forward position under the influence of frame operating cylinder 96, the switch 156 is tripped to energize coil 152.

The three-way valves 118 and 120 include separate solenoid coils 161 and 162, each energized through a circuit which includes switch 164. The switch 164 is shown in FIG. 1 to includes a blade 166 disposed in the path of travel of the piston 78 of cylinder 80. When the piston moves downwardly as shown in FIG. 1 (thereby moving the fingers 50 and 52 to their extracting position), the switch 164 is closed to energize the coils 161 and 162. When the coil 161 of valve 118 is energized, air flows through its fitting 136 and outlet hose 138 to the rear head of frame operating cylinder 96 to move the frame 42 forward. Energization of the coil 162 of valve 120 upon closing of switch 164 closes that valve and shuts off the air supply to the front head of the cylinder 96. When the switch 164 is opened, valve 118 closes and valve 120 opens and air is directed to the front head to return the frame to the position shown.

The next valve shown in FIG. 6 is the air control valve 116 having a solenoid coil 170 energized through switch 172 as well as switch 164. Thus, the circuit for coil170 is dominated both by switches 164 and 172. Valve 116 is normally open and energization of its solenoid coil causes it to close. The switch 172 is shown in FIG. 1 to be mounted on the cylinder 96 and carries a cam follower 174 in the path of cam 176 carried on the forwardly extending arm 92 which moves as part of the In the position shown in FIG. 1, the switch 172 is open, and when the cam 176 with the frame 42 engages and lifts the follower, the switch 172 is closed. The switch 172 again opens when the follower 174 falls ofi the rear surface 178 of the cam 176. Thus, during the time the follower 174 is engaged by the cam 176 the switch 172 is closed, and if the switch 164 is also closed, the coil 170 is energized closing the valve 116 to shut off all air supply to the valves 118 and 120 and thus to the frame operating cylinder 96.

Having described in detail the several parts of this invention, the operation of the counting and extracting assembly will be described with particular reference to FIGS. 7-9. Assume that the trim press 10 during each cycle of the machine simultaneously cuts three articles such as dishes D from the sheet material being fed through it, by the action of the die 26 and punch 22 carried by the ram. Also assume that the frame 42 is in the position shown in FIG. 1 and that the fingers 50, 52 and 54 are in their inactive position, i.e., they are turned under the influence of the linkage systems 62 and 70 so that they lie radially beyond the cutting edge of the die and thus beyond the rims of the dishes being cut by the press.

Each actuation of the ram 12 is sensed by the counter 160, and it records the number of dishes in each of the three parallel systems cut by the press. Assume also that the dishes are to be packaged in stacks of 50. As the fiftieth dish in each line is cut from the sheet by the respective punch and die assemblies they will be deposited on the rails 32 and 34 of the rack. As the fingers are in an inactive position they do not interfere with the travel of the dishes, under the influence of the press, to the rack 30. On the fiftieth cycle of the ram 12, the counter 160 closes switch 154 to energize the solenoid 150 of the air control valve 114, and air is directed to the cylinders 80 and 88 to actuate the linkage systems and thereby move the fingers 50, 52 and 54 to the position shown in FIG. 3. It will be recognized that when the fingers are positioned as shown, i.e., in their extracting position, the fifty-first and following dishes in each line will be separated from the first group of fifty by the fingers. This is clearly shown in FIG. 8. Thus, there is a clear division between the dishes of the first group and the dishes which are subsequently severed from the sheet. As the linkage systems are actuated by the cylinders 8d and 88, the blade 166 of switch 164 is tripped, energizing solenoids 161 and 162 of valves 118 and 120.

As the switch 172 is open, the solenoid 170 of valve 116 is de-energized so that valve 116 is open to allow air to pass from the inlet 110 to the inlet sides of the two valves 118 and 120. Energization of the solenoid of valve 118 causes air to be directed to the rear head of frame operating cylinder 96, and the frame along with the fingers moves in a forward direction (see FIG. 8) and is guided along its path by the bushing 44 and shaft 46. As the frame 42 moves forward the trim press continues to operate and dishes pile up behind the fingers. To assure nesting of the dishes, it is essential that they remain in a position with their axes horizontal. Therefore, the frame is not initially moved forward beyond a point where the first dish in the next following group lying behind the fingers cannot reach at least partially into the fiftieth or last dish in the first group. As a result, after a short travel of the frame 42, the follower 174 of switch 172 is engaged by cam 176 to close that switch. Because switch 164 is also closed, solenoid coil 170 of valve 116 is energized and the valve closes, and all air is shut off to the control valves 118 and 120. Therefore, no further air is directed to the frame operating cylinder 96 and the system idles. However, the continued trimming of dishes by the press piles up dishes behind the fingers as shown in FIG. 8 and they apply a force to the rear of the flanges 56 of the fingers and push the frame 42 slowly forward. As the frame moves forward the cam follower 174 travels along the cam 176, and it ultimately falls off the rear surface 178 of the cam to open the switch 172. The open switch 172 de-energizes coil 170 and the valve 116 again assumes its normally open condition. Once again air is directed to the rear head of the frame operating cylinder 96, and frame 42 continues to move under the influence of the pneumatic control unit, and the two groups of dishes are widely separated as shown in FIG. 9.

When the frame 42 reaches its forward most position as determined by the switch 156 mounted on the rack 30, the frame 42 trips the blade 158- as in FIG. 2 and the coil 152 of valve 114 is energized. Energization of that coil directs air to the return sides of the cylinders and 88 causing the fingers to move to their inactive position. Although the fingers are moved from between the first and second group of dishes, the two groups will not move together as the first group has moved beyond the position reached by the second group of dishes. It should be noted that when the cylinder 96 again takes up movement of ,the frame in a forward direction after the follower 174 falls off the rear surface 178 of the cam, a sufiicient number of dishes of the next group have nested on the rack 30 so they do not tip on the rails. Therefore, moving the first group away from the next group does not in any way disturb the nesting of dishes in the next group being cut by the press.

When the fingers 50, 52 and 54 are moved to their inactive position under the influence of the cylinders 80 and 88, the piston 78 of cylinder 80 releases blade 166 of the switch 164 and the switch is again opened. Open switch 164 de-energizes solenoids 161 and 162 of the valves 118 and 120, and air is consequently directed to the front head of frame operating cylinder 96. As a result, the entire frame 42 with its associated parts is returned to the position shown in FIG. 1 and the cycle of the counting and extracting assembly is completed. In FIG. 9 it will be noted that the fiftieth and all preceding dishes have been pushed beyond the stops 36 on the rails of the rack and therefore they will not and cannot travel rearwardly with the frame and mix with the following group of dishes. When the counter again records the fiftieth cycle of the ram 12 the fingers 50, 52 and 54 again move to their extracting position and the sequence of events described above is repeated.

From the foregoing description it will be recognized that a dependable counting and extracting mechanism is provided which is suitable for use on a wide variety of machines. The assembly is uniquely suitable for use on machines having several parallel production lines, and the cost of modifying the equipment to handle additional lines is not excessive.

Because numerous modifications may be made of this invention without departing from its spirit, it is not intended that its breadth be limited to the specific embodiment illustrated and described. Rather, it is intended that the breadth of this invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. A counting and extracting assembly comprising a rack for receiving the articles to be counted,

means disposed adjacent the rack for counting the arti-- cles being deposited on the rack,

conveying means including a plurality of fingers disposed adjacent the rack and responsive to the counter determining that a preselected number of articles have been deposited on the rack for moving to an extracting position between the pro-selected number of articles on the rack and articles thereafter deposited,

drive means connected to the conveying means for moving the conveying means and the articles in front of it in a forward direction on the rack,

means connected to the drive means and responsive to the fingers moving to an extracting position for actuating said drive means,

means connected to the drive means and responsive to the conveying means moving a predetermined distance for idling said drive means,

means connected to the conveying means enabling said conveying means to move further forward on the rack in response to additional articles being deposited on the rack behind the fingers,

means connected to the drive means and responsive to said movement of the conveying means further forward in response to the deposition of said additional articles for reactivating said drive means to move the articles in front of the fingers further forward on the rack,

means connected to the drive means and responsive to the conveying means reaching a preselected forward most position for removing the fingers from between the pre-selected number of articles and the additional articles on the rack,

and means responsive to movement of the fingers from between the articles for reversing the drive means to return the conveying means to a rearward position with respect to the rack.

2. A counting and extracting assembly for separating nesting articles comprising a rack to receive the nesting articles,

conveying means including a separator disposed adjacent the rack,

actuating means connected to the conveying means for moving the separator behind the last of a predetermined number of articles and separating those which precede it from later articles deposited on said rack,

'drive means connected to the conveying means and responsive to operation of said actuating means for moving said conveying means and the articles in front of the separator forward on the rack,

and means forming part of the separators enabling the articles being deposited behind the separator to move the articles in front of them an additional distance forward on the rack.

3. In combination with a trim press for severing articles from a sheet in which they are formed;

a rack mounted on the machine for receiving the severed articles,

means including a plurality of separators mounted on the press for engaging the last of a predetermined number of articles preventing additional articles from nesting fully with the previously deposited articles,

said separators including a plurality of fingers extending parallel to the rack and having gripping ends which turn inwardly in the direction of the articles to engage the last of the predetermined number of articles,

means slidably supporting the first-named means enabling the additional articles to push the first-named .means and predetermined number of articles when the gripping ends engage the last of the predetermined number,

and means responsive to the deposition of a second group of articles for inactivating said separators and returning them to a starting position.

4. In combination with a machine sequentially providing articles in a plurality of nested stacks,

a rack for receiving each of the stacks of nested articles as they are provided by the machine,

means including a counter operatively connected to the machine for engaging the last of a predetermined number of articles in each stack and causing additional articles to only partially nest with the predetermined number of articles,

means enabling the first-named means with the stacks of predetermined numbers of articles to be pushed along the rack by articles subsequently depositedon the rack,

and means responsive to the first-named means being pushed a predetermined distance for driving the predetermined number of articles away from the subsequently deposited articles.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4 further characterized by recycling means connected to the first-named means for returning the first-named means to its initial position after the first-named means has been driven a predetermined distance away from the subsequently deposited articles.

6. Apparatus comprising a rack adapted to receive articles continuously deposited one at a time in a nested relationship,

means including a counter sensing the deposition of the articles singly on the rack,

means including a plurality of separators mounted adjacent the rack and movable between an active position wherein they lie within the path of travel of the articles deposited on the rack and an inactive position wherein the separators lie without the path of travel,

means responsive to the counter determining that a predetermined number of articles have been deposited on the rack in nested relationship for moving the separators to an active position behind the last of the predetermined number and in front of the articles which follow it,

drive means connected to the means including the separators for moving said means and the articles lying in front of the separators after a number of articles have been deposited on the rack behind the separators following the activation of the separators,

and means responsive to completion of the operation of the drive means for moving the separators to an inactive position and returning them to an initial position. 7. Apparatus as defined in claim 6 further characterized by said drive means comprising a piston connected to the means including the separators, a cylinder surrounding a portion of the piston, and a pneumatic valve connected to the cylinder for governing the motion imparted to the piston.

8. A counting and extracting assembly for providing articles in nested stacks of a predetermined number comprising,

a rack for receiving the articles, means including a counter forming part of the assembly for engaging the last of a predetermined number of articles as they are deposited on the rack and causing additional articles to only partially nest with the predetermined number of articles, means enabling the first-named means with the predetermined number of articles to be pushed along the rack by articles subsequently deposited on said rack,

and means responsive to the first-named means being pushed a predetermined distance for driving the predetermined number of articles away from the subsequently deposited articles.

9. A counting and extracting assembly for providing articles in nested stacks of a predetermined number comprising,

a rack for receiving the articles,

means including a counter forming part of the assembly for engaging the last of a predetermined number of articles as they are deposited on the rack and causing additional articles to only partially nest with the predetermined number of articles,

means causing the first-named means with the predetermined number of articles to move along the rack with articles subsequently deposited on the rack through a pre-selected distance,

means responsive to the first-named means with the predetermined number of articles and the subsequently deposited articles moving through the preselected distance for driving the first-named means and the predetermined number of articles through an additional pre-selected distance away from the articles subsequently deposited,

and means responsive to the first-named means and the predetermined number of articles moving through References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bruckman July 9, 1918 10 Heywood Dec. 29, 1931 Wells Jan. 13, 1953 Pearce Apr. 8, 1958 Dixon May 6, 1958 Rugg Oct. 14, 1958 Lambert Mar. 8, 1960 

3. IN COMBINATION WITH A TRIM PRESS FOR SEVERING ARTICLES FROM A SHEET IN WHICH THEY ARE FORMED; A RACK MOUNTED ON THE MACHINE FOR RECEIVING THE SEVERED ARTICLES, MEANS INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF SEPARATORS MOUNTED ON THE PRESS FOR ENGAGING THE LAST OF A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF ARTICLES PREVENTING ADDITIONAL ARTICLES FROM NESTING FULLY WITH THE PREVIOUSLY DEPOSITED ARTICLES, SAID SEPARATORS INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF FINGERS EXTENDING PARALLEL TO THE RACK AND HAVING GRIPPING ENDS WHICH TURN INWARDLY IN THE DIRECTION OF THE ARTICLES TO ENGAGE THE LAST OF THE PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF ARTICLES, MEANS SLIDABLY SUPPORTING THE FIRST-NAMED MEANS ENABLING THE ADDITIONAL ARTICLES TO PUSH THE FIRST-NAMED MEANS AND PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF ARTICLES WHEN THE GRIPPING ENDS ENGAGE THE LAST OF THE PREDETERMINED NUMBER, AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE DEPOSITION OF A SECOND GROUP OF ARTICLES FOR INACTIVATING SAID SEPARATORS AND RETURNING THEM TO A STARTING POSITION. 